Brouwerij Dilewyns Vicaris Winter 2013

Brouwerij Dilewyns is another example of the growing beer movement within the borders of Belgium. While Belgium saw huge decline in the number of breweries throughout the 20th Century, the last 10+ years has seen a rise in new breweries started by home brewers and other enthusiasts. These new breweries are quickly producing beer that’s becoming highly prized in Belgium and abroad. Brouwerij Dilewyns is one of those.

Even though brewery founder, Vincent Dilewyns, has beer in his blood, his ancestors owned a brewery, it was only in 1999 that he brewed his first beer. His ancestors’s brewery went out of business when the Germans took their copper kettles during WWII. Dilewyns started out as one of the earlier “hobbybrouwerijs,” basically a garage nano brewery. Over this period, the beers began to draw attention and win awards leading to the purchasing of a brewing site in 2010.

In 2011, Brouwerij Dilewyns opened officially as a full fledged brewery with Vincent’s daughters Anne-Catherine & Claire at the helm. This brewery is quickly earning world wide fans because of their great story and amazing beers, including this winter beer.

Fun Fact: The horse on the label has four female riders on it, symbolizing Vincent’s 4 daughters.

Overall Impression: What an outstanding beer! I was expecting a really good beer based on recommendations, but this beer seriously exceeded my expectations. I’ll be buying more, which is saying a lot since I try to spread my variety out for the purposes of getting as many notes for review for the blog as possible. I highly recommend this beer. It has a nice balance to it that makes it very drinkable. Its layers continue to unfold as it warms in the glass revealing new levels of complexity and character. I hope their other beers make it into the market so I can try more, the only other one I’ve seen is a Triple-Gueuze blend.